Manitoba students will soon be taught about the suffering experienced by First Nations people who forced to attend the federal residential school system.

Education Minister Peter Bjornson announced Thursday that new classroom curriculum resources for students in Grades 9 and 11 will aim to provide a unique perspective on the residential schools experience by including personal interviews with school survivors.

"We are developing made-in-Manitoba educational resources to honour residential school survivors and record their stories," Bjornson said. "The video currently under development will include interviews with residential school survivors from all regions of Manitoba, as well as archival footage and examples of the reconciliation process."

The announcement comes on the first anniversary of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology to aboriginal people for the abuse they suffered in residential schools, which were church-run, government-funded schools.

Across Canada, the first residential schools were set up in the 1840s, and the last one closed in 1996.

"Teachers will [now] be better equipped to help students understand the history of residential schools as well as the long-term impact they have had on First Nations, Métis and Inuit people," said Bjornson.

The province is working with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Manitoba Métis Federation and the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba on the development of these new resources.